The small ceremony allowed Armstrong's wife, Carol, to place his ashes into the Atlantic Ocean for a Navy burial at sea

American space hero Neil Armstrong was buried at sea last week in a small, traditional ceremony by the U.S. Navy.

While Armstrong is best known for being the first man to walk on the moon via the Apollo 11 mission in July 1969, he was first a Navy fighter pilot. He was a veteran of 78 combat missions in the Korean War, and while he had the choice to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Armstrong opted for a Navy burial at sea.

Armstrong died August 25 at the age of 82 from heart surgery complications. Last Thursday, about 1,500 guests attended a national memorial service at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington D.C.

After that ceremony, Armstrong's wife, close family members and members of the U.S. Navy boarded the Navy missile cruiser Philippine Sea to place Armstrong's ashes in the Atlantic Ocean.

The ceremony was traditional, where Navy Lt. Cmdr. Paul Nagy helped Armstrong's widow, Carol, place the ashes overboard. Carol then accepted the folded U.S. flag from Capt. Steve Shinego. From there, other traditional events took place, such as the playing of "Taps" and three volleys fired from a firing squad.

Below is a picture of Carol accepting the folded U.S. flag, provided by NASA's Bill Ingalls:

Not to rain on that thought of post mortem justice... But to be more realistic, Bin Ladens body has been eaten by scavengers, crapped out and that crap eaten by micro-organisms and crapped out again, so he is crap squared by now =)